Chapter 6: Taoist
Just as Ling JinSui settled the stranger, and turned to leave, her sleeve was suddenly tugged.
She looked down; the man’s eyeballs trembled beneath his eyelids, and his right hand held her sleeve with surprising strength.
Grandpa Ling had already left the reed bed and, unaware of the situation, was still calling out softly:
“Quick, the sound of hooves is getting closer.”
Jin Sui tried to pull her sleeve from the man’s grasp twice without success. With a determined heart, she tore off half of her sleeve from the shoulder.
She looked down at the man again and said, “Take care.”
The two of them would likely never cross paths again in this life. She was merely acting on her physician’s conscience, unable to stand by and watch someone die.
Also, if she appeared too indifferent in front of Grandpa Ling, the contrast with the original owner would be too great, and Grandpa Ling would surely become suspicious.
Ling JinSui didn’t see that as she rushed out of the reed bed, the man’s eyes had just opened a sliver.
He only saw a graceful back disappearing into the reed marsh, and did not get a clear look at his savior’s face.
In his right hand, he held the half-sleeve she had left behind, and in his left, a soft, sticky dim sum, along with her sincere parting words:
‘Believe in yourself, you will live on’…
As Jin Sui and Grandpa Ling carefully retreated along the reed marsh by the river embankment, the constables had just found the spot.
Coincidentally, as they were about to search below the river embankment, the early sun rose, and a flock of wild ducks flew out from the reeds.
The constables assumed no one was hiding there, otherwise the wild ducks would have already flown and cried out in alarm. They immediately spurred their horses along the official road in pursuit.
Hearing the sound of hooves fading into the distance, Jin Sui and Grandpa Ling finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, their luck was poor; they walked along the river embankment for a long time without encountering any boats.
Fortunately, Jin Sui had collected quite a few wild duck eggs from the reed bed, and the grandfather and granddaughter had a full meal.
Jin Sui recounted her experiences since leaving Jiang Family Village.
After finishing, she summarized, “Are there no good people in this world?”
Grandpa Ling also sighed with emotion:
“These past few years have been turbulent! Bandits appear even in places so close to town, and merchants and constables collude to harass the common people.”
“The heavy taxes and levies have worsened. Look along this road; it’s the season for spring plowing, yet there are few farmers working, and barren fields are everywhere.”
“Let’s avoid Great State City on our journey and reach Jiangnan as soon as possible.”
As they spoke, a small fishing boat appeared on the river. The two quickly crouched down to hide. Grandpa Ling peeked at the fishing boat; there was only an old man casting a net on board.
He whispered to Jin Sui, “Hide here and don’t move. Grandpa will go ask for directions.”
He then tidied his Taoist robe and walked out of the reed bed.
Jin Sui stared intently at Grandpa Ling’s retreating back, clenching her palm. The familiar burning sensation and colorful specks of light appeared.
She was back in the laboratory. She had entered twice before, each time quickly grabbing something and leaving.
This time, she wanted to explore thoroughly. She discovered that the doors and windows couldn’t be opened, but the items she took had all reappeared. She was instantly overjoyed.
First, she drank a bottle of mineral water with gusto. She found an inconspicuous thermos, put a plastic sleeve on it, and decided to use it to carry water from now on.
She ate a few energy bars and regretted not stocking up on more snacks in the laboratory earlier. Thinking of her assistant’s fondness for snacks, she hurried to the pantry to search.
Indeed, she found a box of instant noodles, chocolate, konjac snacks, and other treats.
What made her even happier was that in the cleaning room, besides cleaning supplies, she also found vegetables left by the cleaning lady.
She must have bought them before work, intending to take them home after her shift.
A bag of potatoes, a bag of sweet potatoes, a bag of fresh peanuts with soil still on them, two tomatoes, a head of cabbage, but no meat.
Her joy wasn’t from being able to eat these vegetables, but from the fact that they could be used as seeds for planting!
As long as she fulfilled the original owner’s obsession and sent her to her next life, she could settle down with Grandpa Ling, and then she could plant these crops.
For an experiment, she took one out of the six potatoes to see if it could be restored.
Just as she was about to go to the restroom for a quick shower, a colorful halo flashed before her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she was already lying in the reed bed, looking at Grandpa Ling’s back.
In one hand, she held the thermos; in the other, a potato with soil still attached.
She mentally calculated the time; it had been at most ten minutes.
She put down the items in her hands and pressed her palm again. The burning sensation was gone, replaced by the pain of pinching her flesh.
She wasn’t panicked and decided to try again after some time.
It seemed there was a time limit to entering the laboratory. There would be plenty of time in the future; she would explore it slowly.
The mere discovery that items inside would be restored after use had already given her confidence.
Antibiotic drugs were priceless treasures in this era!
A moment later, Grandpa Ling returned, holding a few old clothes that smelled of fish.
He handed them to Jin Sui, “Change into these first and disguise yourself as a boy. When we get to town, Grandpa will buy you a Taoist child’s robe.”
Jin Sui was a little surprised. She hadn’t expected Grandpa Ling to be so accepting and proactively suggest she disguise herself as a boy.
She had also had this idea and was planning to persuade Grandpa Ling to buy men’s clothes in town!
She wasn’t one to be coy and ran into the reed bed to take off her outer clothes.
She tore Madam Zheng’s old clothes into strips and wrapped her chest over her underwear. She then put on the coarse brown linen men’s clothing and tied her hair into a high ponytail.
Apart from her face being too fair, she looked quite convincing as a peasant youth.
When she emerged from the reed bed, Grandpa Ling was starting a fire to roast potatoes. He had also roasted two fish, saying he bought them from a fisherman.
He handed her a handful of wood ash:
“Smear some on your face and neck, thicken your eyebrows, don’t stare at people, speak in a rough voice, and stand behind Grandpa when you meet people. You can fool them.”
Jin Sui laughed, “Grandpa, you really have a lot of Jianghu experience.”
Grandpa Ling said proudly, “Of course. Before I met your grandmother, Grandpa had wandered the Jianghu for many years.”
Jin Sui gave him some anti-inflammatory medicine again and took out topical medication for him to apply.
The grandfather and granddaughter ate roasted potatoes and fish, finally able to catch their breath.
Grandpa took a bite of potato and was very surprised, “I thought it was kudzu root. This is much tastier than kudzu root. Where did you get it?”
Jin Sui said with a straight face, “I found it in the reed bed. Unfortunately, there was only this one. It must have been accidentally dropped by a fisherman.”
After eating their fill, Jin Sui tentatively asked, “Grandpa, do you know what crime my father committed?”
Grandpa Ling’s face instantly turned sad. His only son had died young, a white-haired man sending off a black-haired one. The pain that struck directly to the heart was unbearable to witness.
After a long while, Grandpa Ling sighed:
“They said he committed great disrespect. Your father was a Seventh Rank County Magistrate; what great disrespect could he commit?”
“We’ll ask for more details after we find your mother and younger brother.”
It seemed Grandpa Ling also didn’t know the inside story.
The reason Jin Sui wanted to ask for clarity was that she could feel she had found Grandpa Ling, but the original owner’s obsession had not disappeared.
In other words, to allow the little girl to rest in peace and move on, she still had to do something else.
What the little girl cared about, naturally, were her family and close relatives. She had to find her mother and younger brother first.
After resting well, the two of them erased their tracks in the reed bed and walked along the river embankment towards town.
The farmers they encountered along the way were all sallow and gaunt, with worried expressions and tattered clothes.
An old Taoist and a young Taoist child, also travel-worn, were somewhat conspicuous in the crowd, but the common people merely glanced at them and no one spoke to them.
